Page 8 - Florida Sentinel 10-14-22

Local Event
Hillsborough County Branch NAACP Announces Award Recipients
The Hillsborough County Branch NAACP will have its annual Freedom Fund Dinner on Friday, October 21, 2022, at the Tampa Marriott Water Street Hotel. The keynote speaker will be Pastor Alan Harris of Beulah Baptist In- stitutional Church. The recep- tion is at 6 p. m, followed by dinner at 7. This year’s theme is “This Is Power.”
The Living Bridge Award will be presented to Dr. Juel Shannon Smith.
Dr. Smith’s pro- fessional ca- reer spans over 30 years at the Univer- sity of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, where she served in
several positions.
Currently, Dr. Smith is
President of JUE-L Consulting Group.
Dr. Smith is a native of Sapulpa, Oklahoma and is married to Dr. John L. Smith, Jr., a mother of seven children and a proud grand- mother and great- grand- mother.
The Ella Baker Award
goes to Antionette Davis. Antionette Davis is known for being a community activist and change agent who works with others from the
community to achieve common ob- jectives.
An- tionette is a strong for- ward-thinking leader who lis- tens, and has experience not only collaborating and advo- cating, but uses her God-given abilities to strategically get re-
sults.
She co-owns EnVision
Resolution, LLC and led ef- forts that resulted in the Board of County Commissioners passing a Resolution that de- clared Racism as a Public Health Crisis.
Ms. Davis is a University of South Florida alumna with a bachelor’s degree in Ac- counting, but her most notable life's accomplishment is being a mother to her 7 children and a wife of one husband, Casey Davis.
The Dorothy Height Award – Unsung Hero Award goes to Dr. Traci Thompson.
Dr. Traci Thompson is a board-cer- tified internist with an 18+ year experi- ence as a
healthcare executive. Dr. Thompson joined Humana Healthy Horizons in 2021 as
its Chief Medical Officer for its Florida Medicaid plan.
Dr. Thompson is also founder of Dr. Traci’s House Inc., a non-profit or- ganization that aims to im- prove health equity by empowering the community within the very zip codes that currently correlate with worse health outcomes.
The Barbara Jordan Award goes to Earnest Wood, III.
Earnest Wood, III, is a school administra- tor with over 20 years of educational
experiences.
Mr. Wood is currently
the Executive Director of Non- Traditional Programs, Diver- sity Equity and Inclusion for Hillsborough County School District.
The Thurgood Marshall Award will be presented to James Michael Shaw, Jr.
James Michael Shaw, Jr. is currently em- ployed by Butler Weih- muller Katz Craig, LLP in
Tampa, as a Partner, with Lit- igation practice focusing on insurer extracontractual liabil-
ity.
Shaw is husband to Aida
Ahmic Shaw and father to Claudia Anais Shaw and Dean Allan Shaw.
Lanita Lucas is slated to receive the Elijah Cum- mings Award.
Ms. Lucas is Supervisor of Family and Community Engagement Transforma- tion Network Schools, Hillsborough County
School District.
She is a native of Tampa,
and has over 23 years of expe- rience working in public edu- cation as a teacher, Success Coach, and the current posi- tion she holds.
In her role, she serves as the liaison between busi- nesses, the community, and schools to raise greater aware- ness of the needs of students and families in the Transfor- mation Network Schools.
Lanita serves as a mentor through her EmpowerHer2 girls' group, which she founded in 2020 to uplift and provide support for middle and high school girls.
Young Queens Baking
will be honored with the
Madame C. J. Walker Award – Unsung Hero.
Young Queens Baking
is the youthful expression of siblings Elecia and Aniyah Jackson. As small children they spent time in the kitchen baking for special occasions and holidays with their par-
ents. In 2019,
the girls
began to per-
fect their craft
by selling
cookies to
family,
friends and local supporters.
With their hearts set on creating a legacy for other youth entrepreneurs, Elecia and Aniyah hope to inspire girls from all walks of life. From delectable cookies to cakes and pastries, these pre- teens are setting the bar high for future generations to come.
Asa (A.) Philip Ran- dolph Award - Unsung Hero will be presented to Genette Keely.
Having worked for the City of Tampa as a
Customer
Service Rep-
resentative,
Genette
Keely joined
the local
union in response to a co- worker’s challenge.
“I was told, ‘you are out- spoken, and you need to join the union’,” recalls the Tampa native.
Since that time, she has been an active participant in the labor movement serving in the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1464 in various positions including the Women Caucus and a delegate for the West Central Florida Labor Council, AFLCIO.
She is the mother of five children and many godchil- dren.
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